GHTV Policy

Georgia Highlands Television (GHTV) Policy

Georgia Highlands Television, GHTV channel 4 on Comcast Cable in Rome, provides educational based programming for the Greater Rome community. The channel was made possible through agreements between the college and Scripts Howard Cable. GHTV originally went on the air September 9, 1994 on channel 99 with live cablecasts from Heritage Hall. In 2002, GHTV was repositioned on channel 4, the government owned PEG (Public Educational Government) channel, through an arrangement with Comcast Cable and the City of Rome. The broadcast day is shared with the Library Channel. The total population of GHTV's coverage area is approximately 25,000 homes. GHTV is operated by the†Digital Media Services/GHTV†Learning Department and funded through the Georgia Highlands College annual operating budget.

The GHTV Policy establishes mission and programming guidelines for Georgia Highlands College Television.

The purpose and mission of GHTV:††††††

To produce and provide for credit or noncredit college classes in an electronic format delivered via cablecast.

To produce and provide educational and informational programs promoting various programs and opportunities available through Georgia Highlands College.

To produce and provide programming of community interest provided it contains educational and/or artistic merit.††

To extend the educational opportunities of Georgia Highlands College via distance learning.

To inform the Greater Rome Community of Georgia Highlands College activities and insure a close relationship between city/county and college.

To program and schedule various programming from other educational providers in Floyd County.

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1- Operational Guidelines

A- GHTV will cablecast programming at times specified in a memorandum of agreement between Georgia Highlands College, The Sara Hightower Regional Library, the City of Rome, and Floyd County. GHTV will provide programming at specified times to Comcast Cable from the GHTV studio located at Heritage Hall.

B-GHTV will operate under the guidelines of the local cable franchise agreements as set forth for PEG channels. As per the regulations governing such channels, programming may receive sponsorships but no advertising will be accepted.

C-GHTV will produce and provide primarily educational based programming which will consist of for credit classes and various other college related programs.

D-GHTV will act as the educational provider for the PEG channel and will accept and schedule programming from other educational providers in Greater Rome.

E-In order to complete a broadcast schedule and/or at the request of the city of Rome or Floyd County, other types of community based programming may be scheduled which could include programs of artistic merit and city/county events.†

E-GHTV will, when time and scheduling allows, work with and involve students in the production of programming.

F-Funding for GHTV will be allocated by Georgia Highlands College.

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2-General Programming:††

A-The priority and main focus of GHTV is to produce and provide for credit college classes in an electronic format delivered via cablecast. Secondary programming may be produced which promotes various programs and opportunities available through Georgia Highlands College.

B-GHTV will accept and schedule pre-produced programming from other educational providers in, but not limited to, Greater Rome. Programming must be submitted in a format compatible with the equipment utilized for video playback in the GHTV headend.†

C- Varying viewpoints of controversial topics may be programmed provided they do not promote illegal, unlawful activities or that are deceptive or in any way offensive to Georgia Highlands College's standing as an institution of learning. Content must be consistent with the subject areas explored within selected programming.

D-Bulletin board information, submitted by students or other on-campus individuals, must be sponsored by an official GHC-related organization or faculty member. Information should be consistent with the purpose and mission of GHTV and will be aired subject to available time.†

E- College related productions and general programming requests (submitted by students or other on-campus individuals) must be sponsored by an official GHC-related organization or faculty member. Programming should be consistent with the purpose and mission of GHTV and will be aired subject to available time. Requests for programming should be sent to the GHTV Policy Board. Funding for college related productions may be requested when available.

F- Student productions must be sponsored by a club or organization in good standing with Georgia Highlands College. Students will make application to produce and/or request air time to the GHTV Policy Board. With permission of the GHTV Policy Board a student production may be produced under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Funding for student productions should be provided through the sponsoring club or organization; however,funding may be requested when available.†

G- Programming that contains certain profanity that is routinely edited out or "bleeped" on broadcast channels will be subject to review and editing. Graphic audio-visual depiction and/or verbal description of sexual content out of an instructional context are not acceptable and should be edited out or covered technically prior to submission. In addition, programs that deal with mature and adult themes should carry a warning graphic at the beginning of the program. The use of such graphics will be determined by the director of the†Digital Media Services/GHTV†department with guidance from the GHTV Policy Board.

H- GHTV programming resources are scarce and limited.† As such, Georgia Highlands College reserves the right to make reasonable decisions regarding allocation of programming and cable resources. Decisions to produce and or carryparticular programming will be made with reference to the mission of GHTV and Georgia Highlands College as well as requests from the Greater Rome Community, and these decisions will be made in a fair and impartial manner.

I- No programming will be accepted that promotes illegal, unlawful activities or that are deceptive or in any way offensive to Georgia Highlands College’s standing as an institution of learning.

J- Requests to produce programming are subject to review and recommendation by the GHTV Policy Board as well as funding, scheduling, and technical limitations.

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3-GHTV Policy Board

A- The GHTV Policy Board will annually review the programming on GHTV. This Board will also meet as needed to review programming requests that involve Georgia Highlands College productions. Such productions may be of student or faculty orientation outside the normal production of for credit classes. In such cases the board may meet electronically to review the merits of such productions. The Instructional Council will nominate Policy Board members and submit the nominations to the President's Cabinet for election. The Director of Digital Media Services will be an ex-officio member of the Board.

B- Appeals to decisions made by the Board may be submitted in writing to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Georgia Highlands College is a multi-campus, state college member of the University System of Georgia. Founded in 1970 as Floyd Junior College, it now serves more than 5,500 students in Northwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama across its five campus locations in Rome, Cartersville, Marietta, Dallas, and Douglasville. Georgia Highlands currently offers over 40 areas of study with associate degree and bachelor‚Äôs degree options. GHC offers a Bachelor of Science in both nursing and dental hygiene.